How Could I Want More
by TamiTaylor
Summary: Tami meets Prince Charming and starts their Happily Ever After. A love story before the story.
1. Chapter 1

For as long as Tami Hayes could remember she had never been one to make long term plans, after learning that her first love and long time boyfriend Mo McArnold had been cheating on her - the blonde gave up on that happily ever after fairytale story that all girls dreamed of having. She no longer believed in love, or marriage…it wasn't something that was in her plans. It wasn't until the troubled blonde met Eric Taylor her senior year of high school that her life turned upside down from the moment that she had laid eyes on him in the wake of her break-up and deep, dark rebellion stage. She wasn't sure what it was about the tall, dark young man who had been the star quarterback of his high school, but the way he made her feel when he would strike up conversations with her at parties. Tami knew that Eric would be the type of person who would make her want to be better, and the more time she spent with him the more she believed that good and honest guys did exist. Eric saw her for who she really was not the person she was behaving like. He saved her in more ways than one, the man made her believe in love, and it was only a matter of time before friendship turned into love.

After only a year and a half of dating Tami Hayes officially became Tami Taylor on April 27, 1992. The ceremony was small and intimate with only family and a few close friends in attendance. The ceremony was everything you expected for a Texas Spring wedding - from the dress, to the flowers, to the cake. It was all perfect. The way that Tami felt for Eric was a way she had never felt for anyone else, and that kind of real love illuminated across the young blondes face. Eric made her the exact person that she wanted to be, she hadn't just married the person whom she was going to love unconditionally and spend the rest of her life with, Tami married her best friend. For their honeymoon they spent a week and a half at Eric's parents lake house in Galveston. It was private and secluded where the newlyweds spent most of their days tangled in the bed sheets for endless hours. Their mornings were spent with reading the paper in bed and feeding each other. On occasion in the evenings as the sun was beginning to set they would venture out for long romantic walks along the lake shore. By the end of the week and a half and their return back to Katy as husband and wife - the Taylor's were taking home far more than just the memories and photographs of their honeymoon. Something much bigger was forming and would soon make it's presence known to the newlyweds.


	2. Chapter 2

One Year Later:

It was a chilly February Saturday afternoon in Katy, Texas - where The Taylor's were prepping to celebrate the 1st Birthday of their Honeymoon gift; Julie. A frantic and emotional Tami had spent the vast majority of her day doing some last minute cleaning and cooking before the arrival of her parents and sister, and her in-laws. While her husband, Eric and his father, James were out on the back deck of the Taylor condo - enjoying a few beers and grilling every form of meat that was expected in the great state of Texas. Julie was down for her afternoon nap, which allowed Tami to finish up on some cooking in the kitchen, and some early clean-up that would allow her more time with her family, once her daughter was up and ready to celebrate her first year of life. Tami walked over to the refrigerator and grabbed the box containing Julie's birthday cake, using her elbow to shut the refrigerator door - Tami moved to the counter top in between the stove and the fridge and sat the box down, and lifted the tabs up and opened the box. The blondes eyes widen in horror when her eyes grazed across the contents of the box.

"Damn it!" Tami exclaimed in the kitchen running her fingers through her hair.

Eric steps away from the grill and peeks his head into the kitchen from the patio. "What's wrong, babe?"

"The cake! It's wrong, it's all wrong."

"What's wrong about it?" He asks, stepping inside and walking over to his wife.

"I said Barbie…not Barney." Tami cringes

"Come here. It's okay babe, she's not even going to notice." Eric spoke softly wrapping his arms around her

"I'm going to notice!" Tami shrieked!

"Babe, then when we cut the cake, let's give her the face of Barney to eat….or smash…"

Tami pulls away and looks at the cake and cringes again, "No…it's wrong, I'm going to go get another cake.

Eric looks at his watch and at his wife and closes the cake box, "Tam, I'll go get the right cake. You stay here."

"Oh! Sure, I'll just entertain my parents and your parents, and finish cooking and grill!"

"Babe, I need you to take a deep breath and calm down. I'll have my dad man the grill."

"Calm down?! You want me to calm down?! It's my kids first birthday, excuse me for wanting it to be perfect! If we mess this up, she will never get another first birthday, Eric. This is a big deal. This day is a big deal not only for Julie, but for us. For our entire family. It has to be perfect, everything has to be perfect." Tami exclaimed tears beginning to well up in her eyes.

"Okay, I will make it perfect. She needs her momma on her big day. You stay here, and I'll go make this the best birthday for Julie. I'll go get the cake and be back as soon as I can."

Tami stands there the tears that were forming in her eyes had finally broke through he surface and were falling out of the corners of her eyes and beginning to cascade down her cheeks.

"Babe, it's going to be okay. I'm going to fix this. Please stop crying…" Eric spoke softly, pulling Tami into his arms tighter and rubbing soothing circles across her back. "Let me fix this, for you and for Julie. Okay?"

Tami's head nodded in response to her husbands comments. Sniffling and wiping the remaining tears from her cheek, Tami's eyes meet her husbands with a grateful expression.

"Thanks, babe." She whispers lowly.

"You're welcome, babe." Eric responds pecking her lips before moving to grab the cake box off of the counter.

Before she knew it her father-in-law was watching the remaining burgers on the grill and her husband was on his way out the door Barney cake in tow to bring him the perfect cake for their daughter's first birthday. Tami's mother Carol was sitting on the couch with Julie in her lap when Eric brushed passed them and left the house.

"Where is he going?" She asked

"They gave us the wrong cake, so he's going to get the right one." Tami replied walking into the living room and sitting in the chair adjacent from the couch, smiling to herself as she watched Julie playing with her new blocks that Eric's parents had brought for her earlier that day.

"Oh no, we can't have the wrong cake, can we?"Eric's mother Susan commented, looking down at Julie..her dark green eyes gazing around the living room before settling on her mother.

"Momma!"

"I bet Eric was mad when her first word wasn't daddy." Eric's father Jim spoke as he watched his only grandchild waddle from one piece of furniture to the chair her mother was sitting in.

"He wanted her first word to be football." Tami laughed holding her hands out for Julie to take in her own.

"So, Tami have y'all thought about having anymore?" Susan asked

"Not really. We really want to enjoy our time with her before adding another to the mix, and I would love for Eric to not have to work as much."

"Eric always wanted to be the dad that was home by 5, with teaching and coaching, he doesn't really have that opportunity. Maybe down the line in a few years, he will be able o do one or the other." Susan added, watching Julie pull herself up into the chair with Tami.

"We wanted to be a little more financially stable with a nice cushion before we even had her, but she was ready to make her big debut. Needless to say our honeymoon as real fun." Tami chuckled..picking Julie up and sitting her in her lap.

"Sometimes life throws you unexpected curveballs that change your life forever. She's a pretty special surprise, and it's all worked out for the best. Ya'll are doing everything that you need to do, in order to provide for her." Tami's mother, Carol interjected.

Tami looked down at Julie who was curled up in her lap with her head on her chest, a smile forming on the blondes lips. "She's worth a million jobs." Tami smiled proudly

It was no secret that Tami and Eric were not intentionally trying to get pregnant when they conceived Julie- she was an unexpected miracle, but one that the newlyweds and their families that had welcomed with open and loving arms. Little Julie Taylor was the light of their lives, and a now 20 year old Tami Taylor could not imagine her life before Eric and Julie. They were everything she never knew she wanted and so much more.


End file.
